Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) has become an important therapeutic strategy for central nervous system (CNS) injury; however, the potential immune rejection and ethical concerns limit the transplantation-based cell therapy in clinic. Alternatively, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may overcome these major hurdles and cast new lights on cell therapy. Recent studies have shown that a variety of somatic cells from mouse or human can be reprogrammed into NSCs or neurons, suggesting that reprogramming of cell fate may represent a promising strategy for CNS repair. Here, we reviewed the current knowledge of cell lineage reprogramming, reprogramming-mediated induction of NSCs or neurons and their application in CNS repair.